The Lost Art of the Mix Tape

November 7, 2014 9:25 PM

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A few days back, my wife and I watched the John Cusack movie "High Fidelity." Classic movie for any music lover for many reasons -- not the least of which is that it unleashed hilarious Jack Black to the world. In the film, Cusack plays the owner of a vintage record shop who is part slacker, part confused by life, part hopeless romantic but 100 percent believer in the power of music (something I wholeheartedly share -- case in point, later today my 14 year old girl, Hunter, and I will drive to LA from San Diego to see indie band "Warpaint" in concert, a band I have now seen about five times including most recently at Outside Lands).

Cusack recounts his "top 10" romantic breakups in life, and essentially sets each one to music. He is an avid creator of mix tapes (remember those?) and agonizes over every single individual track he adds to create the most impactful and meaningful "whole." He literally caresses the vinyl and plucks...